Rail bond



July 15, 1930. E. J. SHULER EJ70 629 RAIL BOND Original Filed Sept. 11, 1924 Patented July 15, 1930 rrso sr-A'rss PATENT OFFICE- EARL JAY SHULER, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE OHIO BRASS COMPANY,

NEW JERSEY OF MANSFIELD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF RA onn Application filed. September 11 1924, Serial 170 737996. Renewed October 8, 1929.

process of securing the bond to a rail or other metal member, the attachment remaining with and becoming a part of the completed bond head.

Another object is to provide a terminal attachment for bonds which may be constructed from a single piece of sheet metal and which will comprise bond receiving and mold forming portions.

Other objects will be pointed out hereinafter.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a railway rail with one terminal of a bond, embodying my invention, attached thereto;

Figure 2 is-a rail side view 0t one form of my improved terminal attachment secured to a cable or bond body and showing the side of the bond terminal which is presented to the rail in bonding.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the reverse or in Figure 2;

Figures 4 and 5 show modified forms.

' In the drawing, 1 designates a rail or other metallic member to which an electrically 'conductive bond 2 is attached. This bond, in its preferred form, consists of one or more flexible portions or cables 3 consisting of copper cable or copper sheets having ateach end an iron terminal attachment 4 of novel form,

This attachment 4 is shaped from a single piece of sheet metal and has a tubular memher 8 formed with fingers 5 adapted to be bent around and to engage closely the ends of the cable 3, and bottom and side walls 6 e and 7 respectively. The free ends of cables holes 6 in the 3 extend beyond'fingers 5 and pass through bottom wall 6 of attachment 4. Bottom and side walls 6 and 7 are inclined to one another in a manner to form a recepfront side of the attachment shown 7 tacle or mold about the cable ends when the attachment is placed against a rail preliminary to the operation of uniting the bond to the rail. It will be noted that the edges 7 of the walls 7 and the face of the member 8 lie in substantially the same plane, thus constituting, with the rail an open-topped mold adapted to receive and retain molten metal and the wall 7 is spaced from the rail face to form a receptacle having a relatively large area.

The uniting of a bond provided with this preferred form of terminal attachment to a rail may be carried out substantially as follows: The terminal attachment 4 is brought into contact with the rail 1 as is illustrated in Fig. 1 and'held closely pressed against the rail. An electric arc is next drawn from the rail and bond terminal to an electrode in a manner to melt the ends of the cables 3 which project upwardly through the bottom wall 6. When these free ends have been melted down by the are as far as desired,

additional copper or copper-containing metal is supplied to the mold and melted therein until the mold has been filled and a bond head 2 of sufiicient size formed. During this melting of the ends of the body 3 and the adding of other filling metal, the head of the rail as well as the attachment 4, becomes heated to a rather high temperature and as a result themolten copper'unites with both of these parts by a strong substantially alloyed junction.

The modified attachment 9 shown in Fig. 4 is also formed from a single piece of sheet metal. It has a finger 10 forming a tubular member for surrounding and gripping the end of a flexible cable 11 and side and bottom walls 12 and 13, respectively, which are suitably inclined one to the other to form a mold for molten metal when the bond and attachment is applied to the side of a rail. The face 10 of finger 10 is preferably flattened somewhat so as to lie in substantially the same plane with the edgesof the walls 12 and 13 which engage with the rail. In this manner a mold is formed from which molten metal cannot readily escape and which otters ample space between the rail and wall 12 to properly apply an electric arc and to retain a substantial body of molten metal.

The manner of applying a bond equipped with this modified form of attachment to a rail is substantially the same as has been described above in connection with the preferred form of my invention and consists in first, melting down a portion of the exposed ends of the cable 11 and then completing the bond head by adding molten metal to the mold.

Still another modified form of terminal attachment is shown in Fig. 5 where 14 designates an attachment quite similar to attach ment 9 shown in Fig. 4. The essential difference between these two modifications, however, is that attachment 14 has a notch 15 in the bottom wall 16 In which the end of a bond 17 may be loosely seated while attachment 9 contemplates the tight gripping of cable 11 by a portion of the attachment. The method of applying a bond equi .ped with attachment.14 to-a rail is, in all respects, similar to the methods described above in connection with the other forms of attachments.

Among the advantages of my invention over the prior art is the ample space allowed for the reception of molten metal andthe eflicient manipulation of the electric are within the receptacle. If the receptacle is narrow then the arc will ump to the rail or terminal without control from the operator who cannot direct the are as he desires, and it is impossible to get the heat of the arc to the bottom of a narrow receptacle and likewise the molten attaching metal.

Also, a small body of molten metal, which chills as soon as deposited, does not permit as good results when uniting copper to copper and to steel as a larger body WlllCh can be kept in a more fluid condition by the arc and thereby forming a stronger and more substan-.

tial alloyed junction with the parts as previously pointed out herein. 1

Although I have shown and described several modified forms of attachments embodying my invention it is obvious that various other forms differing in some respects from those shown couldbe made which, however, would embody my invention. Accordingly, I do not WlSh to have my invention limited to the particular modifications which have been disclosed for purposes of illustration only. The scope of my invention is defined by what is claimed.

What I claim is 1. A rail bond comprising a conductor and a terminal member, said terminal member bein formed of sheet metal .and having a shelf portion arranged to engage a side sur face of a rail and project horizontally therefrom, a side wall bent up from the edge of said shelf portion away from the rail engaging edge thereof, said side wall having an ear integral therewith and extending from said portion formed 11 from said shelf portion at its edges and arran ed to be bent about said conductor to hol said conductor and terminal member together with the end of said conductor extending into said pocket.

2. A rail bond comprising aflexible body and a ferrous terminal secured to each. end thereof, the terminal comprising a shelf member to project from a side surface of a rail, a portion projecting upwardly from the shelf to form an n standing wall, also projecting at one end from the rail surface and a portion arranged to receive the end of the body. and projectin upwardly from the shelf at the other end of the said wall and interposed between the wall and the rail surface with the end of the body projecting into the receptacle formed by said parts.

3. A rail bond comprising a conductor and a terminal, the terminal formed up of sheet metal and having a sleeve portion having a plurality of fiat sides substantially at rightbottom and side wall of a partial receptacle,

the sleeve, conductor, side wall and bottom forming with a surface of the rail to which the bond is secured, an open top receptacle to catch and retain attaching metal while in the fluid state. V

4. A rail bond comprising a conductor and a terminal, the terminal formedup of sheet metal having a'sleeve portion having a flat side, a passage through the sleeve portion to receive the conductor, an endwise longitudinal projection from the sleeve having two sides angularly disposed to each other and forming a partial receptacle, the conductor, the sleeve and the endwise projection forming with a surface of the rail to which the bond is secured, an open top, closed bottom receptacle to catch and retain attaching metal while in the fluid state.

5. A rail bond terminal comprising a sleeve of a ferrous sheet metal having two flat sides substantially at ri ht angles to each other and together with 0t er sides forming the wall of a passage to receive a conductor, the said other sides projecting longitudinally beyond one end of the sleeve and forming when either flat side is applied to the side surface of a rail, a receptacle havto grip a conductor and having two fiat sides each applicable to a rail surface, an elongated part projecting" from the said portion and forming a receptacle to catch, support and retain molten metal, the projecting part provided with sides each having an edge which is substantially flush with a flat side of the said gripping portion adjacent the portion, the projecting part forming with the rail surface a receptacle open on the top and closed on the bottom when either flat face is applied to the rail.

7. A rail bond comprising a pair of terminals, each of, which includes means to grip a conductor, and an elongated portion projection from the said gripping means and having two open lateral faces lying in intersecting planes, said faces being separately applicable to the vertical surface of a rail in different positions of said terminal relative to said rail, in each of which positions said elongated portion forms with the rail surface an elongated receptacle extending lengthwise of the rail to catch, support and retain molten attaching metal; and a flexible conductor connecting the terminals and secured thereto by the said gripping means, the conductor projecting into each receptacle and forming with the said gripping means a closure at one end for the said receptacle pro- 'jecting from the rail surface in a lengthwise direction thereof.

8. A rail bond comprising a pair of elongated terminals to be attached to a rail in horizontal alinement and each comprising elongated means to form with the vertical surface only on a rail a receptacle closed at the remote ends of the terminals, holding means on the adjacent ends of the terminals to receive a conductor to electrically connect the terminals, the end of the conductor at each terminaland the said holding means forming a closing means for the receptacle at the inner ends of the terminals, the said receptacles adapted to catch, support and retain molten attaching metal and unite the rail, terminal and conductor each to the other. i

9. A rail bond comprising a conductor and a terminal member, the terminal member being formed up of a flat piece of sheet metal having a tongue at one end of said piece bent about said conductor to grip said conductor and secure said conductor and terminal member together, one side of said piece being bent up to IEOI'IFH a side wall, the end portion of said side wall being separated along its lower edge from the main body of said piece and bent across the surface of said piece toward the edge thereof opposite said side wall, and forming with said side wall, main body, tongue and end of said conductor a receptacle open at two sides, said receptacle forming, when placed with either of its open sides adjacent a vertical face of a rail, an open signature.

E. JAY SHULER. 

